“In the
five years in which the previous scheme operated, it was an
important funder of plantings on land that is less than
ideal for production forestry because of the very steep
terrain,” says Forest Owners Association chief executive
David Rhodes.

“When this land is eventually harvested it
presents economic, environmental and safety challenges.
These are being addressed through research funded by a
consortium of growers and the Sustainable Farming Fund. This
has led to major breakthroughs in the mechanical harvesting
of steepland, but more government funding of research is
needed in this area.”

He says plantation forestry has a
huge potential to boost wealth and employment in the
regions. But to achieve this, the productivity and
profitability of the existing plantation estate needs to
improve.

“There is a major focus on productivity in our
current research programme to which the government
contributes significant funding. But the government could
transform forest profitability overnight by making the
emissions trading scheme function as it was intended,” Mr
Rhodes says.

“Another critical area for the next
government to address will be RMA compliance. This is a real
dampener for forest owners, especially those with
plantations in the North Island hill country.

“Without a National Environmental Standard, there is
no certainty that forest owners will get permission to
harvest their forests – especially erosion control
plantings, which were mostly funded by government and
regional council schemes like the AGS.”

He says
initiatives like the AGS are nevertheless important for
environmental reasons and are welcomed in that context.

“At about $1300 a hectare to plant a forest, the new
AGS will – if it is fully subscribed – plant up to
15,000 ha or an average of 3500 hectares a year.

“On the
other hand, if the profitability of our existing forests
improved, we could see planting rates of around 20,000 ha a
year – as opposed to the current deforestation rate of
around 10,000 ha a year.

“But there is a big proviso.
No-one is going to make a commitment to a major long-term
investment in forestry if they don’t have confidence that
the policies of successive governments will treat forestry
fairly.

“We can live with fires, floods and
windstorms, as well as market swings and roundabouts. But
the political risks in the 30-year life of a typical forest
are far greater than these.”

Mr Rhodes cites unfair
nitrogen allocations in the Lake Taupo catchment that
discriminate against Maori forest owners in particular. More
recently there was the decision to ban forest owners from
paying for their ETS emissions with international units –
the only sector to be treated this way. Then there’s the
ongoing issue of district councils jacking up their rates so
that forest owners pay more than farmers.

He says
issues like these could easily be addressed without any cost
to the country.

“But the fact is they should not
have arisen in the first place. Somehow we have to convince
politicians of all parties that they need to have a common
vision for forestry and how it might be achieved.

“Giving investors the confidence there won’t be
constant policy shocks during the life of their forests is
probably the biggest barrier to the sustainable growth of
our
industry.”

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